Pack

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I woke up sometime later. My body had cocooned itself inside a warm embrace. Arms wrapped around my waist squeezed me tight against a hard chest. A heavy leg curled over my hip, trapping my body inside the warmth like a cage. I snuggled in closer, pressing my lips against Dean's chest as I inhaled his wild scent.

"Are you okay?" His raspy voice whispered. I knew he wasn't referring to this exact moment, but what had happened in California with Stephen.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"I'm better now." He pressed me tighter against him and I winced at the ache in my ribs, but didn't have the urge to move away from him.

"Did Jonathan send you after me?"

"No."

Propping my head up on my hand, I leaned on my elbow so I could see his face clearly. "Then why did you come? You knew you were trespassing on the King's territory. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Logan called me. He told me he'd arranged something with one of the council members. All I had to do was get myself to the meeting and tell them in front of everyone that you belonged to him. The council member would take care of getting us out."

"What about the war part? Was that true?"

He licked his lips and nodded.

"Did Jonathan know Logan called you?"

"No." He shook his head.

My eyebrows hit my hairline. "And you went anyway?"

"I knew you'd be scared. I didn't want you to think we'd abandoned you." He removed a hand from my waist to push his messy hair back off his forehead.

"Don't you have any self preservation?"

"I'm a werewolf, Avery. I put my pack first."

"So you're willing to die?" Regardless of what I was, my life wasn't more valuable than his. The pack needed him. I was just a liability that would probably get us all killed.

"For you, yes." He tilted my chin down. Our lips rested so close, his breath tickled across my skin. "I would do anything for you."

"Why?" I huffed in exasperation. "You don't even know me. Those are just your instincts fueled by what I am." He smirked. It felt like so long since I'd seen him do that.

"You have no idea, do you?"

"About what?"

"How amazing you are. When you shift to wolf, you're going to become so fierce other werewolves will fall to their knees to do what you want."

I rolled my eyes. "You're insane."

"It's true, babe." He brushed his thumb across my jaw. "You have no idea the influence you'll hold, or the power you'll have."

"So you like me because one day I'll be a great and powerful wolf?"

"No, I like you because you're stubborn. And defiant. Because you're willing to sacrifice yourself for those considered beneath you. Because you're beautiful. And kind. You fit perfectly in my arms. And you smell so good." I started giggling at that. "I just...ah...I dunno. You're just... amazing, babe."

"I feel like everyone knows so much about me and I don't know anything about anyone else. Tell me something about you."

Mirroring me, he raised his arm so he leaned on his elbow, his head cradled in his hand, while the other one mindlessly played with my hair. "Like what?"

"Where are your parents? Where did you grow up?"

"Not really much to say there. I've never met my mom. I have no idea who she is, and my dad was unreliable. We moved around a lot when I was little."

"Was your dad part of a pack?"

He shook his head. "No. I didn't know it then, but my dad was a lone wolf. That's why we never stayed in one spot longer than six months. He worked odd jobs in construction and he was gone a lot. He'd leave random woman to look after me when I was little, but at around eight years old he'd just leave me all alone."

"So he could go for a run and hunt?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Among other things. He never told me that I was a werewolf. It wasn't until I met Jonathan that I found out."

"How did you meet him?"

"When I was sixteen, the police told me my dad was killed in a bar fight. He'd probably trespassed onto someone's territory without permission and they'd killed him. I became property of the state. I lived in foster homes for about a year and a half before I ran away. I was almost eighteen anyway, so I doubted anyone even bothered looking for me. I would steal and fight for money. I actually stole Jonathan's wallet, that's how I met him." He grinned.

"Did Jonathan tell you that you were a werewolf?"

"Yeah, but I didn't believe him." He shrugged. "Then he shifted in front of me. It was pretty hard to deny the existence of werewolves then."

"So you stayed with him?"

"I did for a bit. We travelled through the woods. He has an awesome sense of direction. We'd camp and he'd hunt as a wolf. At the time, I figured I'd stay with him until I turned eighteen, then I'd get a job and an apartment. I mean, I still didn't really believe I was going to change into a wolf. It was kind of a hard pill to swallow." He nudged me and wiggled his eyebrows. "Anyways, one night while Jonathan was sleeping, I took off. A few days later there was a full moon and I shifted."

"What was shifting like?"

"I'm not going to lie, Avery, the first time hurts. I thought I was dying. But once I'd fully changed, it felt right. As if I'd found a part of myself that I hadn't even known I was missing. Jonathan found me sleeping in the woods the next morning. I guess he'd been tracking me the entire time. After that, I never left his side. We stayed mostly in wolf form to travel and hunt. When we'd shift back, he'd tell me about the different laws and territories, the King, and council members. Eventually he brought me to meet the triplets and Scout. They still lived with their mom, but she knew what they were. Jonathan and her had agreed that after they shifted, he would take them, set up territory somewhere, and we'd be his pack."

"But Scout hasn't shifted. Why isn't he still with his mom?"

"He wanted to find you."

"But shouldn't he have finished school first?"

Dean scoffed. "Jonathan has been looking for you Scout's entire life. Every time Jonathan left to search for you, Scout begged to go with him. Once the triplets shifted, there was no chance we could leave to look for you without him. That pup has loved you his entire life. When we found you in Pennsylvania, the triplets had to guard him from coming to visit you. Every day, all day, he begged to see you. Jonathan had even ordered him to stay out of the cave when we went in to meet you." He rolled his eyes. "But you know how well Scout listens."

"Scout told me you guys travelled all over looking for me."

He nodded. "We've probably seen the forests of almost every state and some of Canada. Jonathan has seen even more. He'd go off for weeks searching Mexico, northern Canada, and every state top to bottom to see if he could discover what your mother did with you. That's how he found me in Indiana. We ran across Cole and Cal when we were in California looking for you."

"You two went to the King's territory to look for me?"

"Jonathan would have gone to hell to look for you."

I released a slow exhale. It sounded like he did. "So that means you've only been with Jonathan for a few years. Your loyalty to him made me think you'd been with him forever."

"He's the first person that ever looked out for me. I owe him for that. Besides, it's in our nature to be loyal. I'm sure you feel some amount of loyalty to him even though you two had a rocky start. It's just who we are."

"So is loyalty why you risked your life for me?"

He shrugged and leaned in. "I blame it on your power. It draws werewolves to you, and makes them want to do anything for you?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"You've felt the power alpha's have, right?"

I nodded.

"You have it too, but it's different. Instead of forcing werewolves to obey your command, it makes them want to be near you. The pack doesn't treat you like you're precious because we think you're weak, it's because we would all rather die than see anything happen to you. That's what your power does. It consumes us."

"No way." I shook my head. I'd felt the power of an alpha before, but I couldn't detect anything even remotely similar to that coming from me. And I had yet to meet a werewolf that did what I wanted.

He grinned. "Look at Logan. He is without a doubt one of the most powerful werewolves in North America. I would even bet his power could match Stephen's and you have him wrapped around your finger."

"That's because he likes me." I grinned.

"Oh, no doubt he likes you, but he'd like you even if you're personality sucked. It's just a bonus for the rest of us that you're so cool." With a smirk, he leaned forward, pressing his lips into my throat. He switched between tentative kisses and nuzzling my skin as he burned a trail from my collarbone across my jaw. Shifting us, he moved his body so he hovered over me.

A little gasp escaped my lips as his hands roamed down across my sides and grabbed my hips, tugging me against him. Since Dean had gone to bed naked and stripped me down to my skivvies before climbing in with me, there wasn't much separating us. The mark on my throat started to tingle, snapping me back to reality. I opened my mouth to tell Dean to stop, when banging on the door interrupted us, causing Dean to release a loud snarl.

"If you seriously think you're going to have mate with her in my house, you're delusional, Beta." Logan growled through the door. "Just because I let you sleep in the same room with her, does not give you the right to take advantage of my generosity. This is my house, and my territory. Keep your parts to yourself or you'll lose them. This is the only warning I'm giving you."

I put my hands over my mouth to stop from giggling. How did I let myself get into this predicament? I blame loneliness smothered in hormones.

"Stop laughing, Avery and go to sleep. Or I'm coming in there to get you."

"Relax, Logan," I managed to squeak out.

"Just because I'm willing to let you choose a mate instead of forcing you to be mine doesn't mean I'm okay with you making out with your pack mates in my house."

"We weren't making out."

"Go to sleep. Now," he barked.

"Sorry," I apologized and heard Logan release a loud huff, before stalking away.

"I was never going to let it get that far." Dean shot me a grin and rolled to the side causing the bedsprings to squeak. "Jonathan's decree all."

"That was embarrassing. I feel kind of bad, but then I don't." I turned around so my back sat against his chest, allowing him to curl around me protectively.

"That's just your wolf and human side's morals wrestling it out. Most werewolves take one mate, but some have more."

I shuttered thinking of Stephen and his harem. Dean must have thought I was cold, because he covered us with the comforter, tucking it in around me. "Dean, I don't want to go back there," I whispered into the darkness.

"I'm never going to let King Stephen take you again, Avery."

They were only words, but I felt the promise woven into them. I wasn't sure he could keep it, but as my eyes fluttered shut, I let myself hope.